Welcome Tenants into your Hobart Rental Home

Keeping your grounds clean, adding eco-friendly exterior lighting, and making sure the front door is attractive and welcoming will make excellent first impressions on potential tenants. You could even have them halfway to signing the lease before they’ve entered the house. Baxton Property Management in Hobart has seen the effect these first impressions can have on the rent ability of your investment property, and the quality of tenants they attract.

Making a Grand Entrance

Why do entrances make such a difference? In Feng Shui it’s all about the flow of energy through that entrance which is believed to affect the happiness, health, prosperity and even the wealth of those who live there. Our memories, created by movies, childhood and even fairy tales, may not be as specific in classifying the effects. But most of us know and recognise it simply as “coming home”, as entering a place where we can shrug off the increasing stresses of daily life and feel safe and secure.

Getting to the Door

A beautiful and friendly front door is not going to have the same impact if the prospective tenant has to walk down a tatty and uneven path to get to it. Make sure the garden is clean and tidy, and look at redoing the path from the gate to the front door if necessary. A master touch is to provide outside lighting, preferably of the eco-friendly variety. This will make prospective tenants feel comfortable, welcome and secure even in the dark. And the added bonus is that they will be, as if its light enough for tenants to enter safely, it is too light for unwanted visitors like burglars to do so.

Assessing your Current Front Door

Take a good hard look at your rental’s front door as objectively as you can, and answer the following questions:

Does it look welcoming and warm? Or old, tatty and tired? Tenants won’t get that home-coming feeling if they’re greeted by a door that looks like it’s had a tougher day, year, or few decades than they have. Refinishing the door by re-varnishing or sealing it, or adding a fresh coat of paint and a new doorknob might be all it takes.

Is it secure? Aside from providing soft and fuzzy feelings to those who live there, the front door is also there to keep out those who aren’t wanted inside, like intruders. Old doors that are cracked or hanging skew on old hinges, can also prove far more attractive to burglars, who see them as providing easy access, than they are to prospective tenants. New hinges, and refinishing might solve the problem, but if the door is not sturdy it would be worth replacing it.

Is it functioning properly? Creaking doors are better suited to horror movies than they are to rental homes. Lubricate or replace hinges, locks and knobs that are worn beyond repair and seal the door if moisture is making it swell so it doesn’t open properly.

After Gaining Entry

Once the door is open, you want that “welcome home” feeling to continue. If it’s an older property with a separate entrance hall, your task is easy. If there isn’t one, get creative and create an illusion of one. Perhaps consider tiling the area immediately inside of the door, to demarcate the entrance area. This will make space for a welcome mat, and at the same time keep the dirt from being tracked onto the carpet. Also check the lighting, to make sure it’s light enough to give a warm glow, but not so glaring as to blind prospective tenants as they enter.

Carrying out major (and expensive) renovations inside your rental property doesn’t really have the desired effect if potential tenants are put off before they even get inside to see that wonders you have accomplished. Making a grand entry certainly sets them off better, and ups your chances of landing a top calibre tenant. After 100 years combined experience in property management, Baxton in Hobart has realised the best ways to open the door to opportunity. Contact Baxton on its website.

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The information contained in this article is based on the authors opinion only and is of a general nature which is not indicative of future results or events and does not consider your personal situation or particular needs. Professional advice should always be sought relevant to your circumstances.